Various medical solutions are commonly administered intravenously (via IV) from sterile containers to patients. These solutions may include any medical type fluids, such as replacement body fluids and even solutions containing a medicament (drug). Common packaging for the storage and administration of these solutions includes flexible containers having a compartment for storing the solution. An outlet port is coupled to the compartment for administration and delivery of the solution to the patient through a standard IV arrangement.
Oftentimes, medical solutions consist of a mixed combination of a liquid diluent, e.g., an aqueous dextrose or NaCl solution, and a liquid medicament. Desirably, the medicament and diluent are stored separately in the container under aseptic conditions and are not mixed together until immediately prior to use so as to prevent degradation of the final product. Packaging of the diluent and medicament is often further complicated by the character of the medicament which may be in liquid form and, thus, susceptible to hydraulic pressure on the container, as well as degradation under light or oxygen exposure.
Accordingly, various such medicaments which become unstable with time in solution have typically been separately stored in gas-impermeable vials, containers, or the like prior to their use. Before being administered to a patient, medicaments stored in this fashion must be mixed, or diluted in, physiological solutions or diluents which are also preserved separately. While able to maintain medicament sterility and effectiveness, separate component storage is cumbersome and involves the risk of bacteriological contamination during handling, mixing, and subsequent administration to a patient. Accordingly, medical containers have been developed which include compartments for storing unstable medicaments and compartments which contain diluent liquids. Immediately prior to IV administration to a patient, the components are placed in communication with one another so that the contents can be mixed together aseptically.
Multiple compartment containers, which allow separate storage of diluents and medicaments are known. Such containers are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,608,043 to Larkin, U.S. Pat. No. 5,176,634 to Smith et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 5,462,526 to Barney et al. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,608,043, 5,176,634 and 5,462,526 are expressly incorporated herein in their entirety by reference. The compartments of the containers disclosed in the foregoing patents are separated from one another by peelable or frangible heat seals. The seals are ruptured by manipulation of the container so that the contents of the compartments can be mixed together to thereby form a solution which is delivered to the patient through a standard IV arrangement.
Solution containers on the market today are generally manufactured of materials comprising PVC plastic. PVC material is generally quite murky in aspect, making it difficult to inspect the contents of a container manufactured of such material. Consequently, inspecting such containers for leaks and moisture contamination is quite difficult. Inspection is further complicated when using multiple compartment containers, where there is a need to verify whether complete mixing of the medicament and diluent has taken place prior to administration to a patient. In addition, various hazardous chemicals are used in the manufacture of PVC material which must be disposed of in an environmentally safe manner. PVC containers must be carefully disposed of following their use, because PVC emits a toxic gas when incinerated and includes a toxic plasticizer that can leach into the surrounding environment if the container is buried in a landfill. This toxic plasticizer is also able to leach into IV solutions, making PVC containers unsuitable for use with several types of medical fluids, and particularly with liquid drugs.
These flexible containers are typically fabricated from a pair of opposing planar sheets which are mated together to form a body or shell. Forming a particular sized body results in a fixed volume capacity. Typically, the containers are fabricated to hold standardized volumes. This works well until a non standard volume is necessary. In this situation, one option is to utilize only a portion of the solution stored in a larger container. However, this option is expensive, wasteful and dangerous. The user must also be very careful to only use the desired quantity or prescription of the contained fluid. In addition, any remaining solution may require specialized disposal.
The containers are also typically fabricated to a predetermined overall outer size or a few common overall sizes. This is generally because the overall size of the container determines its volume capacity, and currently containers are provided in a relatively few predetermined volumes. In addition, the fabrication, handling and sterilization of these containers requires highly complex and expensive machinery. This machinery is designed, in part, to handle the overall dimensions of the container. It is therefore desirable to provide a medical container which has a standard overall outer size and has an enlarged volume capacity relative to the standard size. It is further desirable that the medical container be fabricated using the same machinery and handling equipment as that for standard size containers.
Similar to the single compartment containers, multi-compartment containers are typically constructed with predetermined compartment sizes. The diluent compartment is typically sized to hold a sufficient quantity of diluent to mix with the stored medicament and form a proper solution. The diluent compartment size is also based on a particular dosage or stored quantity of the medical solution. The volume of the diluent compartment may also be limited by the overall outer size of the container which must be constructed to fit the packaging and handling equipment. However, in some applications, it may be desirable to increase the quantity of diluent. Currently this is not possible or requires a second container of diluent. Alternatively, some applications may require additional medicament. It is therefore desirable to provide a multi-compartment medical container that has a standard overall outer size with standardized compartment volume capacities that can be permanently enlarged to increase the volume capacity of at least one of the compartments. It is further desirable that the container be manufactured to a predetermined overall size and configuration to facilitate manufacturing, sterilization and handling by the same machinery and processes.